So by having a story that casts doubt on the novels veracity, he is obliging the reader to think about these questions. The book is 'about' the Vietnam war, at least it uses the war as a platform, and the war itself does raise huge questions about truth and fact, about the use of propaganda and misinformation and about the credibility of politicians and military leaders. 1. I think the story Rat tells is even more compelling because it has elements of fantasy in it. Fantasy is made to draw people into a story when they might otherwise not be. I believed the majority of it, and I liked all the seemingly exaggerated details of the story. I think this story fits perfectly with O'Brien's criteria for a true war story. At first it didn't because Rat added his personal bias, but after he stopped doing that, he really pulled people into the story and got them completely immersed in it. It was so compelling that it got me, as a reader, to believe everything that was being said. Rat later admitted to making parts up, but he got the people listening to believe everything was true, so he succeeded at getting people to hang on his every word and believe him. They didn't question what he told them until after he said he had created some parts himself afterwards.

I think O'Brien casts doubt on the truthfulness of the novel to continue supporting the point that everything ever said about a war is not entirely truthful. War has such a profound impact on people that they can't help but add a little bit of their own personal feelings and experiences into a story about the war. He wants the readers of the novel to understand that even what HE is saying is not entirely truthful. It's an interesting point that he makes, but part of me wishes that everything he says about the Vietnam War is true because the stories are so interesting. It decreases my understanding of the novel somewhat because now I don't know what to distinguish as real and fake. The difference between "story truth" and "happening truth" is that the happening truth is what actually happened. The story truth is for when people are telling others about what happened to them and the others that were with them, but addend new details to the story, ultimately making it more interesting. The story truth is